


with the earth of a hundred nations in my skin

by wordslinging



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: A Hint of Demisexual Keyleth, Comfort Sex, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Light Angst, Multi, Polyamory, Porn with Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 22:55:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11390130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordslinging/pseuds/wordslinging
Summary: After the battle with Ripley and Percy's resurrection, Vax and Keyleth find their way to Gilmore's for some much-needed comfort.





	with the earth of a hundred nations in my skin

**Author's Note:**

> This is half "everyone needs snuggles after Glintshore" and half addressing the lack of Gilmore fucking Vax in my Crit Role fic so far, with a smidgen of "whoops I got them into a pretty good emotional place just in time to send them off for the Raishan reveal". Canon is a harsh mistress, so I'm just gonna keep tucking OT3 fluff into the margins where I can.

"I'm going to follow Percy's plan of action and turn in," Gilmore says when Vax invites him along for much-needed drinks and decompression following the resurrection ritual. As Gilmore moves past him, he rests a hand on Vax's shoulder and leans in for a moment to add in a low voice, "But I dare say you and Keyleth might find my door open later, if you're so inclined."

Vax reaches up to clasp his arm for a moment before they separate. 

Some time later, as the others head for their rooms in the castle, he and Keyleth drift toward Gilmore's, arms looped around each other's backs. They're almost there when Keyleth clears her throat.

"So…Vex and Percy."

Vax makes a noncommittal sound. There was a time when knee-jerk sibling protectiveness would have been his primary reaction to the idea of something between them. Now...well, right now he's mostly relieved Percy's still around for it to be a question.

"Think she'll say anything to him now that he's back?" Keyleth asks.

"Considering he had to die for her to say something in the first place?" Vax points out with a wry smile. "Not that I have room to pass judgment on how my sister chooses to handle her feelings."

Keyleth leans into him for a moment, resting her head on his shoulder.

Gilmore's is dark and quiet, but after a minute or so he answers Vax's knock, clad in a simple sleeping robe with his hair loose around his shoulders. 

He ushers them in and then wordlessly folds them both into a strong, warm hug. Vax sighs in contentment and slips an arm around Gilmore's waist, his other still around Keyleth.

"Saving a friend from death is no small feat," Gilmore says in a low voice, and drops a quick kiss on each of their heads. "I'm proud of you both."

Vax and Keyleth shed their armor piece by piece as he shepherds them through the small house, until they're sinking down on the bed half-dressed, Keyleth kicking off her shoes tiredly and Vax removing his belt to lay it close at hand. Gilmore helps Vax with his boots and then crawls into bed beside him, extinguishing the one dim lamp he'd lit with a wave of his hand. 

It doesn't take them long to get settled; Keyleth tucked against Vax's chest, Gilmore at his back with an arm wrapped around his middle and one bare thigh slipped between his. Vax hugs Keyleth close with one arm, folds his other hand over Gilmore's arm at his waist, and closes his eyes.

***

He wakes with that fuzzy sense of not being sure how long he's slept or what time it is. Keyleth is still out, her shoulders rising and falling gently and drying tear tracks streaking her cheeks. On his other side, Gilmore is propped up against the pillows with a book in one hand and his other idly playing with the ends of Vax's hair.

"Hey," Vax croaks sleepily, and Gilmore lays his book aside with a smile. 

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Vax replies automatically.

Gilmore gives him a knowing look and slides down until they're face-to-face. "Are you?"

Vax looks away guiltily. Even after they've just slept, he can see hints of strain on Gilmore's face from maintaining the barrier around Whitestone. "You've enough burdens without worrying about my feelings, Shaun."

Fingers curl around his jaw and turn his face back, and Gilmore looks into his eyes and says solemnly, "You are not a burden to me, Vax'ildan."

Rather than protest further, Vax sighs and curls into Gilmore's side, feeling strong arms go around him. He stays like that for a moment, breathing deeply with his face buried against Gilmore's chest, then shifts to lie with his cheek over the other man's heart and starts talking.

There are things that aren't his to say, or that seem like they should stay within the circle of Vox Machina--the grim vengeance they took on Ripley, Vex's confession during the resurrection. But he talks about finding Kynan on Glintshore and what the boy did, about watching Scanlan and Keyleth work so hard to try and keep Percival on his feet in spite of their own wounds, about the moment at the end of the ritual where they'd done all they could and Percy still wasn't stirring.

Gilmore strokes Vax's hair as he listens, occasionally hugging him tighter or giving a low hum of sympathy. "Sometimes I wonder how you all do it," he says after Vax falls quiet. "I've faced my share of danger, but the way you walk into one deadly situation after another…" He smoothes a hand down between Vax's shoulder blades, rubbing gently. "How are you doing, Vax, really?"

Vax rolls to the side, looking over at where pieces of the Deathwalker's Ward form a trail from the door to the bed. "I've been thinking a lot about the Raven Queen," he says softly. "I was so reluctant to embrace being her champion, but when I look at what she's given me since...the wings, the power to heal my friends or ask her blessing on them…I wasn't able to make much difference against Ripley, but if I stay on this path, who knows what I could do in time?" He sits up, drawing one knee up to his chest and bracing his arm against it. "I spent so long skulking around as a thief and assassin that it's still strange to think of myself as a protector, but that's what I want to be for the people I love. And that's what she's offering me the power to do." He looks back at Gilmore and smiles crookedly. "So, yeah. I might not be doing great just yet, but I think I'll get there."

Gilmore cups his face in one hand and draws him close, leaning his forehead against Vax's. They stay like that for a long moment before he says with a grin in his voice, "And you make a really sexy paladin, which is a nice bonus."

Vax laughs softly, tilting his face up. Their mouths brush and it easily turns into a kiss, Gilmore's hands curving around Vax's waist to pull him close. For a while it's slow and sweet, more comfort and reassurance than passion. Then Vax throws a leg over Gilmore's, straddling his lap, and Gilmore brings one hand down to press against the small of Vax's back, the other gripping his hip as the kiss deepens.

"Should we wake Keyleth?" Gilmore asks in a low murmur as his lips trail down the side of Vax's neck. 

Vax glances over at her, still sound asleep, and then his eyes flutter closed as Gilmore's teeth graze his pulse point. "I say we let her sleep as long as she can," he replies. "This one was hard on her."

"Understood," Gilmore says, nuzzling the space behind Vax's ear. "That does mean we have to keep quiet, though."

Vax pulls back to shed his tunic, giving a highly offended look as he shrugs his head free. "I beg your pardon, sir, I am a fucking _master_ of stealth."

Gilmore slips his hands past the waistband of Vax's trousers, thumbs tracing the cut of his hips. "Perhaps, my bird, but I've never known you to be a master of stealthy fucking."

Vax drops his head back to Gilmore's chest to muffle a half-laugh, half-groan. "I walked right into that."

"You rather did," Gilmore says fondly, kissing the crown of his head.

Vax undoes the ties on Gilmore's robe, hands slipping under the silky fabric and encouraging it to fall to either side. Gilmore frees his arms from the sleeves and then pushes Vax's trousers down his hips as Vax lifts up to wriggle out of them. As he settles astride Gilmore's lap again, deft hands curl around his legs and trail slowly up the backs of his thighs. Gilmore mutters something under his breath as one of his hands slips higher, and the touch grows cool and slick. 

"Did you just--" Vax murmurs, then gasps as broad fingers slide along the cleft of his ass.

"Perks of bedding a sorcerer, darling," Gilmore replies with a smirk.

Vax bites his lip to keep his voice from rising on a needy whine as Gilmore's fingers circle his entrance teasingly. "Shaun--"

"I've missed you," Gilmore says in that throaty voice that drives Vax mad, fingers still moving slowly as they press in, but purposeful now. "I've missed this." He pushes further, grinning as he finds the spot that makes Vax's body jerk against his. "Yes, _there_ you are…"

"I need you," Vax whispers, rocking back against his hand insistently. "I need--"

"Hush," Gilmore tells him, gentle sternness in his tone. "I know what you need, my bird."

He works his fingers at that same steady pace, refusing to be hurried, until Vax is loose and open and his vocabulary's been reduced to a soft litany of _please, please_ interspersed with Gilmore's name. When Gilmore pulls his fingers back and grips his ass with both hands, lifting and spreading him open in the same motion, Vax goes with it eagerly, almost crying from how good it feels when the blunt head of Gilmore's cock breaches him and he starts to sink down.

Maybe it's the time they've been apart, or lingering adrenaline from the battle and the resurrection, but Vax's senses seem heightened, leaving him acutely aware of every place they touch, every inch of Gilmore inside him. He tips his head back and holds his hips still, giving himself a moment to readjust to the pressure, the sense of connection, the delicious edge of almost-too-much that comes with Gilmore's cock stretching and filling him. 

Gilmore's hand comes up to sweep his hair back over his shoulder, stroke the exposed line of his throat, cup his cheek. "So beautiful…" Vax hears him murmur, and opens his eyes to look at Gilmore lying beneath him, thick, curling hair spread out on the pillow, eyes shining as he looks up with an adoration Vax thinks he'll probably never feel truly worthy of.

Vax bends to kiss him, because that's easier than meeting those warm eyes and wondering if he deserves that much love, and having his mouth pressed to Gilmore's makes it easier to muffle the sounds he can't hold back as they start to move together.

Gilmore fucks him with quick, shallow thrusts, hands now gripping Vax's thighs as he rocks up into him gently. Vax has his hands fisted in the sheets on either side of Gilmore at first, then lets go in order to run them over the other man's arms and shoulders. He's wonderfully solid, just the right amount of softness and give over firm strength, coarse dark hair on his chest tickling Vax's fairer skin.

Gilmore works a hand between them to take hold of Vax's cock, jutting rigidly against the softness of his belly. Vax buries his face in the curve of Gilmore's neck, moaning softly as Gilmore strokes him in time with his thrusts and breathes a string of half-coherent endearments in his ear.

He bites down on Gilmore's shoulder when he comes, shuddering against him and feeling tears sting his eyes. In the wake of his own orgasm, he hears a soft gasp of "My love," against his hair and feels the hot rush inside him as Gilmore follows him over the edge.

They lie still for long moments afterward, panting softly as sweat cools on their bodies. Gilmore brings both hands up to frame Vax's face and place a lingering kiss on his forehead. 

"I love you, Vaxil'dan," he says softly. "Wherever your path takes you, whatever you face, don't forget that."

"I won't," Vax promises, lifting his head to press his mouth to Gilmore's briefly. "I love you, too."

He moves off of Gilmore, letting out a startled yelp as he and rolls onto his side and comes face to face with Keyleth, watching them with her arms wrapped around a pillow as she lies on her stomach.

"Fuck me, how long have you been awake?" he asks, and she shrugs with a faint smile.

"You looked like you were enjoying yourselves. I didn't want to interrupt." There's a touch of melancholy in her eyes and voice, but Vax is inclined to chalk that up to lingering emotions from yesterday and take her words at face value--sex tends to be something Keyleth can take or leave, especially when she's tired.

Gilmore cleans himself and Vax up with another cantrip, then spoons up against Vax's back, looking at Keyleth over his shoulder. 

"I suppose I can't keep the two of you in bed all day, much as I'd like to and it seems you could use it," he says. "But you're welcome to stay for breakfast, at least."

Keyleth turns her tired smile on him. "Breakfast sounds great, Shaun. Thank you."

Gilmore kisses Vax's shoulder, leans over him to leave a peck on Keyleth's cheek, and slips out of bed.

Vax moves closer to Keyleth, nuzzling her gently. "Hi."

"Well, someone's in a good mood," she teases fondly, sliding a hand up his spine to rub the back of his neck.

There's an easy joke there about the wondrous mood-lifting properties of Gilmore's cock, but Vax really does feel better than he has in a long time. Ripley's dead, Percy's alive, and Vax has somehow lucked his way into being loved by two of the best people he knows. Things could be a lot worse.


End file.
